Edit protected Word docs w/o password

[MasterRacker]

We have a number of Word 2003 documents that were password protected to be read-only by a someone who is no longer here (and of course, we don't have the password).

In Word2007 they can be opened read-only, edited and saved via save-as, however the password is carried through to the copy.

I've tried changing the protection and applying my own password then doing a save-as but the original password carries to the copy.

The old trick of zeroing out the password in the script editor won't work because MS removed the script editor from Word2007.

Using Word to save-as RTF carries the password forward.

What I finally stumbled upon is:
1. Open the document in Wordpad (which does not recognize Word protection) and immediately save. You will be prompted to convert to RTF, but it will happen in place (the name will still be .doc)
2. Open the converted document in Word and voila! the protection is gone and formatting is preserved. The document is still rtf internally, but the first time you make a change and save, it converts back to Word format.

Notes:

These are simple text documents with formatting no more complicated than numbered lists and bold.

You can also copy, cut & paste into a blank document, but that method will not preserve non-standard margins and you can't simply save over the original - Word recognizes the protection and tells you the file is read-only.
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If anyone has a simpler method other than downloading a cracking tool, please post. This was the simplest method I could come up with for the end user to do ad-hoc conversions.

Jeff
[small][purple]It's never too early to begin preparing for [/purple]International Talk Like a Pirate Day
"The software I buy sucks, The software I write sucks. It's time to give up and have a beer..." - Me[/small]

 

[fumei]

That just goes to show how "secure" you can make Office files. Frankly, I do not know why people bother, except of course for really basic users. Then, I suppose, "security features" can work. But for any really knowledgeable people, Office file security is a joke. True, I understand 2007 has things a bit more secure (but I do not really know as I do not use 2007). However, I still doubt that a serious person could not get at a file.

Gerry

 

[eyec]

open the protected doc, save it with a new name, close it, re-open it and remove the password protect option

 

[white605]

PGP or better for serious users

This old world keeps spinning round - It's a wonder tall trees ain't layin' down

 

[TonyJollans]

The password to modify is not a serious form of security, nor is it intended to be, and, as far as I know, nothing to do with it has changed in 2007. What has changed in 2007 is the encryption methodology - the password to open - and that is more secure than it was.

Enjoy,
Tony

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[MasterRacker]

eyec,
Doing a save as carries the password forward. The copy also can only be opened read-only. Can't remove the password without knowing it. In addition, as far a Review > Protect Document is concerned the document is unrestricted and unprotected. That was the whole point of this exercise.

Jeff
[small][purple]It's never too early to begin preparing for [/purple]International Talk Like a Pirate Day
"The software I buy sucks, The software I write sucks. It's time to give up and have a beer..." - Me[/small]

 

[eyec]

MR
you are correct. i had a PEBKAC moment.

 

[MasterRacker]

No problem, I have those every day. ;-)

My method is basically taking advantage of a bug in Wordpad in that it save a .rtf file right over the original without changing the .doc extension. If you have a lot of documents to convert, this saves the extra steps of save-as's and renaming, etc.

Jeff
[small][purple]It's never too early to begin preparing for [/purple]International Talk Like a Pirate Day
"The software I buy sucks, The software I write sucks. It's time to give up and have a beer..." - Me[/small]